Booklet flashcard
What years were the following formed?
- NUWSS
- WSPU
- NUWSS : 1897
- WSPU : 1903
Why did the suffragists have to rely on private members bills to get parliament to debate women’s suffrage?
No political party was willing to adopt women’s suffrage as official policy
Give two examples of peaceful methods used by the NUWSS and initially by WSPU?
- Holding public meetings
- Leaflets
- Petitioning
- Writing letters
Give one way in which the WSPU was different to the NUWSS from the outset
- No men allowed to join
- More confrontational approach
Who was the founding member of the WSPU and why were most early members well off?
- Emmeline Pankhurst
- Relied on unpaid work so members had to be economically independent to devote themselves to campaigning
Apart from the Pankhurst, name 3 key WSPU members
- Pethwick-Lawrence (Frederick and Emmeline)
- Teresa Billington-Greig
- Annie Kennedy
- Emily Davison
Which (then) Liberal MP was heckled several times in 1906 and then went to lose his parliamentary seat?
Winston Churchill
what was the name of the WSP journal and what was it circulation figures in 1910?
- Votes for women
- 40,000
The failure of which large rally in 1908, convinced the WSB to adopt more violent forms of militancy, how many women attended?
- Hyde Park - no influence on gov at all
- 250,000 - 500,000
why were the liberals reluctant to adopt female suffrage as a policy?
- Leader (Asquith) (1908) did not believe in it
- Liberals focused on radical social welfare reforms and questions of Irish Home Rule
- female suffrage not a priority
- concerned property women would vote for conservatives
Give one way in which suffragette militancy was held against them
- Evidence of unstable nature of women
- hysterical tendencies
- vote was a responsibility with which they could not trusted
give two reasons , used by the suffragettes to justify militancy
- Denied main form of peaceful protest - only realistic option now curbed
- Long tradition of using force e.g. Reform act 1832 + 1867
- Chartists
Which notorious event in November 1910, convinced WSB to avoid street protests?
Black Friday - women sexually assaulted + injuries
what evidence is there that the WSPU did not control its members?
- Violence initiated at a local level - only adopted by WSPU later
- Window smashing, arson and letter box burning
- Emily Davison’s suicide in 1913
give an example of tension between London, central WSPU and regional WSPU branches
London WSPU tried to get w/c Liverpool branch to hold drawing-room meetings to encourage m/c members. Liverpool branch refused
which two key figures left the WSP in 1907 to form the WFL and what percentage of WSPU members went with them?
- Charlotte Despard and Teresa Billington- Greig
- 5%
when were the Pethwick-Lawrence expelled from the WSPU?
1912
When did Sylvia Pankhurst leave the WSPU and why?
- 1913
- disagreed with move to conservatives - socialist
What consequence did Christabel’s move of WSPU away from the ILP in 1906 have on the WSPU?
- Gentrification: attracted more m/c and u/c support without socialist connotations
- More money (£20,000 in 1907 compared to £2,500 1906)
- employed staff
how did the government initially respond to hunger strikes and how did this help the WSPU?
- Forced Feedings: propaganda coup for women/ public support for WSPU
what was the nickname given to the 1913 act which allowed women on hunger, strike to be released from prison, and kept under surveillance until healthy enough to be rearrested?
Cat and Mouse Act
name two organisations set up to oppose female suffrage
- Women National Anti-Suffrage League (1908)
- Men’s League for opposing Women’s suffrage (1909- 97 branches)
why was the labour party suspicious of the WSPU and who was an exception?
- Wary of m/c and u/c women interfering in their movement
- anxious women would vote conservative and drives wages down
- Keir Hardie
how many women have benefited from the franchise of 1913 and why did it fail?
- amendment extending vote to women
- speaker of House of Commons ruled amendment changed bill way too much
